Armed Citizen

From NRA.org, August, 2013 –Pharmacist Terrell Milby was working at Westside Jiffy Pharmacy when a young man entered and asked to speak with him about a list of medications. The man stood at the consultation window and handed Milby a napkin. On the napkin was a handwritten note requesting an unspecified number of painkillers and syringes. The list also included the warning, “I have a gun.” Milby said he didn’t believe the would-be robber actually had a gun and showed him his own firearm. Milby then ordered the man to get on the floor. Upon seeing the pharmacist’s firearm, the robber turned and fled. Milby called police and was able to later identify the man who attempted to rob the pharmacy. The suspect was then arrested and charged with first-degree robbery. “You can never be too careful,” Milby said of the incident. “You never know who’s going to walk in.” (The News Courier, Athens, AL, 5/14/13)

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Four teens on a crime spree forced their way into the home of 72-year-old Morris Reaves. Two of the teens wore ski masks and one wielded a rifle. Reaves heard the break-in take place and met the youths with his own firearm. Reaves fired two shots at the intruders causing them to flee to a nearby car and drive away. The four suspects were later identified from images taken by Reaves’ security camera. They were each arrested and charged with one felony count of kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit burglary, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, larceny after breaking and entering, and misdemeanor assault by pointing a gun. Reaves was not injured during the home invasion. (The Charlotte Observer, Lenoir, NC, 5/20/13)

A 56-year-old man heard the doorbell ringing at his home just before 1 p.m. When the homeowner failed to recognize the man outside his door, he ignored it. A few moments later, the suspect threw an object through a glass front door and entered the home. The homeowner responded to the sound and the two men struggled. The homeowner pulled out his handgun and fired twice, striking the intruder in the shoulder. A delivery truck driver saw the scuffle from outside, heard the shots and made the initial 911 call. The intruder was arrested after receiving medical treatment, and it was reported that he was expected to be charged with first-degree burglary. (The Issaquah Press, Issaquah, WA, 5/8/13)

Tiffany Simo and Douglas Romeo were delivering newspapers around 3 a.m. when they noticed a vehicle following them. When they stopped the truck to prepare a few papers for delivery, a man jumped out of the vehicle behind them and charged them as he fired shots from a .380-cal. pistol. He began banging on the driver’s side window of the delivery truck and demanding they open the door. Romeo grabbed his own gun from a lockbox in the truck and fired through the window. The assailant was later treated for multiple gunshot wounds, and then charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm in public. (The Ledger, Winter Haven, FL, 5/13/13)

A resident told police he was upstairs around 2 p.m. when he heard three men kick in the front door and enter his home. The intruders attacked the resident and placed him in an upstairs closet while they ransacked the home. What the intruders didn’t know was that particular closet was where the resident kept his gun. When he thought the intruders were gone, the resident left the closet armed with that firearm. Downstairs, he encountered one of the men and the two exchanged gunfire. The intruder was struck in the shoulder and leg. He fled, but collapsed a few blocks away. The other two intruders fled as well. The resident was not injured. A neighbor commented on the incident, saying, “What happened today is exactly what guns are supposed to do—to protect your home and defend your life and your family.” (Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, 5/15/13)

Jimmy Foster was returning home when he found multiple suspects loading his property into a car outside. After Foster exited his vehicle, the burglars got in their car and rammed Foster’s vehicle before driving toward him. Foster fired several shots at the vehicle striking one of the tires and causing the burglars to flee. Police were called and a search involving K-9 units and a helicopter led to the arrest of the three burglars. Foster was reportedly not injured during the burglary. (News Sentinel, Clinton, TN, 4/10/13)